Federal Grant Will Be Used to Plant 7,500 Trees in the Greater Flint Area

There is a surprisingly easy way to make urban areas cooler, healthier, less prone to climate change, and happier: Plant trees. Thanks to a $5 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), that’s just what they are going to do in Flint and Mt. Morris. The Genesee Conservation District received the grant in July and will work with local residents to plant 7,500 trees by mid-2029. 

The project is called “Vibrant Canopy, Vital Community in Greater Flint.” A 2019 study showed the surprisingly large impact planting trees in cities can have. “Trees promote health and social well-being by removing air pollution, reducing stress, encouraging physical activity, and promoting social ties and community. Children with views of trees are more likely to succeed in school.…[T]rees can reduce urban temperatures….[and] are valuable green infrastructure to manage stormwater. Money spent on urban forestry has a high return on investment.”

This high return on investment is the driving force behind a new national program that is working with local communities to increase the number of trees and green spaces in cities across the country. As Nausheen Iqbal, Acting Assistant Director of the UCFGP, put it, “Everyone deserves to have access to nature and the proven health benefits it provides.” The funding was made possible by the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act.

The tree care industry has the mantra “right tree, right place” and that is what will guide the planting of these trees, according to John Cohoon, forester and arborist for the Genesee Conservation District. Flint has an extensive database of its trees and the trees they plant for this project will be selected to ensure good species diversity. They’ll also take into account things like overhead power lines and other trees planted in the area. Importantly, Cohoon said, they’ll be working with residents as the project is implemented. “It’s not like residents should be concerned that all of the sudden a tree is going to pop up in their front yard that they don’t want and they didn’t know was coming,” he said.

Fair Forests consultant Christine Carmichael says researchers have concluded that, when funding projects like this, one third of the funds should be used to buy and plant the trees with the other two-thirds used for planning, community engagement and follow-up maintenance. That philosophy is part of this project with the Genesee Conservation District starting its own tree crew. This will employ people to not only plant the trees, but offer them training in arboriculture, including species identification and the safe operation of tree equipment. In addition to planting, the new crew will also trim 750 existing trees and remove another 750 that are hazardous or dead, according to arborist Cohoon.